Wrapped up with Devious Intentions
by Karianasan
Summary: With Christmas around the corner, one of the members of Mystery Inc is behind something sneaky. A mystery package finds it's way into the living room... Slice of Life/Everyday story with the Gang. What could be inside? And who is behind the mysterious present? Read and find out! Reviews are always welcome! December Prompt.
1. Wrapped up with Devious Intentions

_~Twas the night some days before Christmas,_

_when all through out the house..._

_That only one thing was stirring..._

_Quiet as a mouse._

_A package being smuggled into the living room with care..._

_In hopes that the gang would soon wake up and see that it was there.~_

* * *

Night faded and morning rolled around in the house of Mystery inc, the gang went about their business as usual. Shaggy and Scooby were the first ones up, trudging to the kitchen to start the morning breakfast. To wake the rest of the gang up with smells of delicious food that awaited them if they so desired. And well, it was hard to turn down food when it was made for you without needing to work for it!

The guys enjoyed making the food for the gang, as much as they too enjoyed eating it with the others. And Fred, Daphne and Velma got to indulge on yummy food without effort.

Win win for all parties involved!

One by one, the rest of the gang trickled into the kitchen, zombie hands grabbing at the offered plates and soon the sleepy head fog was lightening up with good food and some much needed caffeine to start their mornings.

Daphne as usual, chugging down her favorite coffee brew like a fiend, and waiting till she had a few cups in her before she was ready to add to the conversations that was starting to pick up across the kitchen table they had settled into that morning. Preferring the lower height compared to the island, it was easier for them to sit and reach the food offerings without too much of a stretch.

"Got anything planned today?" Shaggy asked eagerly, looking a bit sleepy but energetic as always in the morning at home. While he hadn't gotten the best sleep, his disposition wasn't dimmed in the slightest. Fighting off Scooby a bit over some waffles that sat between the two.

"Rine!" Scooby swash-buckled his fork in attempts to stab against Shaggy's own silverware. Though the lanky man didn't even pause his attention from the others as he fought off and scored some food in the exchange. Parrying Scooby's thrust and slipping past his defenses.

"Hm... I am not awake enough." Daphne did a hard blink against her grogginess, trying to clear her head more with a shake. But when she wasn't on a mystery, she tended to be the worst one of the gang for being awake in the morning. _(Unless Velma had been up all night working on something, and hadn't slept yet._) Requiring some caffeinated assistance to be able to string words together and hold a decent conversation.

"...But I don't think I have anything planned today." Giving a scratch to her bed mussed head, she tilted the mess towards her best friend to pass the question to her. "What about you, Velma?"

"Hm? Me? Well I wanted to get some reading in... but then when don't I?"

Velma tossed up a hand as she just used the other to munch down on some cereal before her. She almost always had a book on hand, and a number in her room awaiting her to read or read again. So, while it was a constant 'to do' on her schedule, it wasn't so much of a pressing thing for her to get accomplished. Just something she enjoyed with there wasn't some other project on her docket. And it had been soon after a previous mystery, that she hadn't devolved into a crazy project to keep her locked in the basement... _yet_. That usually only happened when the down time stretched past the norm between mysteries.

"Such _complex_ plans." Daphne snorted, blowing a rogue strand of her red locks out of her face to be able to take another swig of her coffee. Making a move on some scrambled eggs and hash browns nearby. Adding them to her plate and seeking out of the salt to lightly season before chowing down.

"Yes... how ever will I cope with the _stress_." Velma rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together. But, she could keep a straight face for long. Shaking her head at Daphne, she shifting her shoulder to the side and bump Daphne next to her in jest.

"What about you Fred... You been quiet over there."

Shaggy scarfed a waffle quickly before Scooby was able to take a swipe at it. Bring attention to their fearless leader... Burrowed behind a cereal box, robotically shoveling the corn flakes into his mouth on auto pilot as the man wasn't fully there. Eye unfocused and staring off a spot on the table. Usually a morning person, Fred seemed a bit more spacey then normal this early. Earning a poke from Daphne to snap him out of it

"Earth to Fred?" Picking up a hand, Daphne waved it in his general direction. Hoping the movement might break him out of his daze and get him back to them all. "Come in Fred?"

With the hand waving in front of him, his eyes lazily drifted up to blink at Daphne. It took a few moments before Fred realized that she was doing that to get his attention. Tilting his head, he looked at her and then glanced down at his spoon. Taking a bite, he munched on it for a bit to finish his spoonful before answering the curious looks from the rest of the gang. Their gazes focused at at him over the table.

"What's going on now?"

Sighing, Daphne shook her head, and Velma just snickered at Fred. Not often was Fred being worse then Daphne that early, but today he certainly seemed out of it. Normally being one of the other more morning people in the room.

"Do you have any plans for today? It seems the rest of us really don't have anything?" Shaggy re-asked his question, now that Fred was paying attention to him asking. "Anything you were going to do later?"

"Hm. Well.. I'm not sure if I was still half awake or not, but I thought I saw something in the living room." Fred put down his spoon and scrunched his brows as he tried to recall exactly what he had seen. Or if he had just imagined it, still being drowsy. Shifting his head slightly to the side as he thought about it.

"So, I planned to see if I dreamed it or not."

Nodding his head, he picked up his spoon again, feeding himself another bite while the rest of the gang looked at him. Shifting to glance confused at one another, their visions then drifted towards the living room behind them.

"Yeah," Fred muttered past his corn flakes, nodding again to himself. "So, _that_ is totally a plan for today."

With her brows knitted, Velma was too curious to not go check it out. If Fred had in fact seen something in the living room, then the rest of them had walked past the arches that lead from the living room to the hallway without noticing.

Or, Fred was delusional enough to have dreamed up something in the room.

Sliding out of her chair, she bumped into Daphne who had been doing the same thing. Both unable to resist the unknown that was presented in front of them.

"After you." Velma offered, which Daphne accepted.

"Why thank you."

"..." Velma brought up a finger, figuring that Daphne would have offered the same thing, but instead took the offer that she had given her. Velma couldn't get annoyed with Daphne taking her up on it, compared to being equally polite and causing a conundrum of who would go first.

Shaking her head, she trailed after Daphne but soon bumped into Daphne who had stopped in the actual dinning room that sat between the kitchen add on and the living room further ahead. Leaning around her best friend's side, she peered at the large box that took up the space in front of the couch where the coffee table had once sat.

"Hm. Well look-y there. Fred's not seeing things." Daphne nonchalantly said and turned back to the kitchen. Making shooing motions at Velma to get out of her way and make it back to the kitchen to finish off her meal before taking up the mystery that was now in the other room. Not that Daphne had disbelieved that Fred had seen something. But she hadn't even in her half awake state, seen the large box herself... She just wanted to confirm that it was real and then would get to it once she was done with food and more awake to handle it.

This was home. Not a legit, monster around the corner coming to get her, mystery mystery. So, she had the luxury to go back for seconds, before she had to take that on. A luxury that she often didn't get to have on a real mystery. It was proper eating etiquette to make sure you finished your meal and cleaned up, if they got the chance.

Velma had let Daphne go back to her food, but leaned back to look at the box a second time. Pushing her lips to one side, pursing them slightly on the side of her face. She couldn't just give up and go back before investigating more. It was home after all. The present had to have gotten there somehow, so this must have been one of their faults... Or maybe a family member that had a spare key. But it seemed like a lot of effort to manage to get the box past them all somewhere and get it in the living room in the first place.

But she had also missed it as well on her way to the kitchen for breakfast. Curiosity winning over the new object in the house for her to investigate.

Wandering up, she gave the box a poke. It didn't move with her light pushing, which just made her try harder. Placing her hand on the edge, she gave it more of a shove. It moved, but very little. The Box wasn't impossibly heavy, but certainly had some weight to it. It was about the dimensional size of their coffee table but taller. Height coming up to Velma's thighs and about as long as she was tall. A rectangular box, covered in a simple brown wrapping paper. But she did notice that there was a label that seemed to have been stamped or spray painted on one side.

"From Santa, to Mystery Inc." Velma spoke, looking at the marking on the box. It seemed like some type of stencil work. Keeping the creators identify a secret by not using any type of recognizable handwriting. Very smart.

"Looks like the North Pole has sent us a package."

Returning back to the table, Velma poured another glass of orange juice and moved to finish her slightly soggy cereal. Nodding to Daphne as they had accomplished mostly what they had set out to do. Curiosity sated, it was close to Christmas after all. Things like sudden packages, did seem to occur more around this time of the year.

Time could be taken to investigate further, once breakfast was finished.


	2. From Santa with Love?

Once the meal was done, and the dishes were set to soak... The gang moved as a group to investigate the large box that sat in the middle of the living room. Surrounding the wrapped package, curious and eager to discover what lay in store for them inside. And what type of present would require such a large box, to be given as a gift from '_Santa_'?

Peering over at the fireplace, Shaggy tossed a thumb towards it. "You think, like the Big Man in Red, decided to use this to drop the present off?"

"You mean, _The Great Dark Lord of Christmas_?" Daphne snorted, taking a jab at Fred, who just shook his head.

"He was _The Great Dark '**RED**' Lord of Christmas_, you forgot the _Red_ part." Fred pointed out, making sure she got her titles right. Didn't want the Byzornia's from Ricktok Beta to let the Big Man know they got his name wrong. Plus, it was one of the few times where his crazy childhood schemes didn't get out of hand. And they got a yearly tradition out of it. So, he was allowed to indulge in his childhood crazy scheme from that time in jest.

"Yes Yes, Dark **Red** Lord and all that." Waving one hand back and forth, she dismissed the banter to get down to the meat of things. Much more important things in front of them. "How it got here, we might be here all day trying to figure that out. Or, we can just cut to the fun part and start ripping this sucker apart!"

"Aw." Fred over exaggerated a sniffle for a second, before breaking out into a smile. He was awake and up for interacting with playful banter. But, Daphne was right. There was a mystery to solve! And it was going to require some precision work to remove the wrapping.

"Scooby...**_ sic it!_**"

"Ro'cha 'Red!" Saluting, Scooby brought up an arm. Finishing the salute, he then turned over his paw and flicked out his dull claws. Flipping out his other paw, he brandished his weapons of mass destruction for a second to be appreciated before setting loose upon the brown paper that covered the present. Lunging towards the box with abandon!

"Wait a minute!"

"No no..."

Scrambling as the papers started to fly, Daphne and Velma rushed to both gather paper as it was being shredded off, and barked for Shaggy to go and get them a kitchen garbage bag to put all of the pieces that were flying off at Scooby's clawing.

"Phew... R'ere." Bringing up an elbow, Scooby wiped his forehead with all the effort he went through to unearth the box underneath all the paper.

One fret later, there seemed a bit more wrapping paper then expected. Scooby had to cut apart three layers of brown paper, in order to reach the cardboard box core. But that proved to be another problem... As the box was thoroughly tapped up. With all the edges and the flaps to open covered in several layers of clear tape. Too many layers for Scooby's blunt claws to be able to really scratch through.

They were going to need something more heavy duty to keep going!

"Looks like this is more complicated then we expected. Ok. Velma, Fred. You guys go and grab some sharp and pointies. Velma get your scissors, I last saw them in the basement on your desk. Fred, we might need the big guns, so grab a box cutter. You should have one upstairs, right?"

"Right."

"Got it!"

With the two of them scurrying off, Shaggy pointed to himself. Having stood back to let Scooby get to having fun with the paper once he had gotten the trash bags. Grabbing a second one just in case.

"What should I be doing?"

"Hm, well... might as well record us once we get this underway. So..." Pulling out her smartphone, Daphne fiddled with some buttons and brought up her recording app. It was one thing she had made sure to buy top of the line, since it was part of her business to keep in touch of things. Only the best when it came to her and the gang's phones! Finally upgrading them to a smartphones. But she also tended to be the one who carried around hers at the ready the most often at home. It made sense that she offered up her phone to Shaggy, since his was probably buried in his bedroom.

"Alright. This is the record button, and this is the photo button. Make sure to get **LOTS** of Velma for me!"

"Get what of me?" Velma asked, only catching part of the conversation, returning with a handful of scissors. Not sure which Daphne might have wanted. And Velma owned a variety of scissor types, from the classic fabric ones, to some heavy duty steel, and little kid sharp scissors. Like the ones you upgrade too once you are allowed to finally cut with not those blunt ones from class. And a personal favorite of Velma's, an old retro, Sanrio Keroppi frog green scissor. It was surprisingly sharp for what looked like a little kid cutter. Fanning the options out, to show them off to Daphne for her to pick.

**_~Click!~_**

Not muting the shutter, Velma's eye went wide as she looked past Daphne to Shaggy standing by her side. Cellphone in an obvious up position and heard the sound. A clear sound that made her stomach drop and her face turn red with embarrassment! Shaggy was taking pictures of her, and he had already gotten one off.

"N_uuuuuuuu..._" Bringing up the spread out bundle of scissors, she tried to hide behind them to cover her face. Though it was already too late. Also her actions earning a few more snaps from Shaggy. "Why? Why_yyyy_?"

"Because this is a holiday thing, so suck it up!" Daphne chuckled and enjoyed the torment. She was also subjecting herself to it as well, since the whole gang were disheveled from waking up and still in PJ's. Her bedhead was legendary, and she hadn't done anything to quell the medusa. But since it was her phone, she would later at least be able to look through it and save the ones she liked and delete the ones she didn't. Vetting them before anything got posted to family.

Turning her head, Velma was just making a low grumbling sound as she stuck out scissors in objection. Letting Daphne still pick while she was protesting.

"What I miss..." Seeing Shaggy with the phone being held up and seeing the scene that it was pointed at, it didn't take a detective to figure out. "Oh, heh. Got it. Make sure to send some copies to Pops later."

"Nooo_oooooo_..."

Plucking one of the more normal looking scissor with a sharp edge, Daphne moved towards the offending box. Flipping the scissor around like a switch knife, she stretched out the sharp edge and grabbed it so she could apply the best amount of force, to pierce through the thick tape around the edge, And also hold the tool safely and not cut herself! Which was important. Had to keep herself and the others safe while slicing the heck out of the box.

"Keep that cutter on hand Fred, let's see how this goes."

Scanning the box, she searched for the best entry point. Choosing a corner, Daphne sliced at it to try to get purchase on the flap of the cardboard box. It took some effort to get through all the layers, but she finally was able to get past it and started to carve a line to open the box up.

"Geez, I'm glad this isn't that tape that has all the strands in it. Or this would be tons more tough." Daphne huffed at the endeavor.

"Not duct tape, though that can be sticky on scissors too. Um... That packing tape right. Filament tape?" Fred had come over to help take chunks of tape that Daphne cut off, then passed it to Velma who placed it into the garbage bag beside her.

"Oh yeah, Filament tape would be a nightmare." Velma agreed, peering over the two kneeling at he box, trying to catch a glimpse as it was opened up. Scooby waiting to get in, at the other side but letting Daphne get it open before he would dive in. Shaggy all the while filming and snapping anything he saw being an interesting shot.

"Ok... let's see what is iiiiiiinside, a what?" Drawing it out as she was talking, she pulled open the box to reveal... **Four more boxes!**

This time in a more classic Christmas printed wrapping paper, four boxes were labeled to the gang. Scooby and Shaggy sharing a box, while the others each had a box for themselves. And the labels were printed this time, still not revealing the creator of this packaged insanity.

"All riiiight. Hm, so I guess we all open our own?" Fred suggested, trying to pull at his own box to free it from the larger like refrigerator box that Daphne had just gotten open. Took some tugging, but he was able to get it free. Letting the others grab theirs.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Scoob can get ours." Shaggy offered from behind the phone, still recording.

Looking at one another, they shrugged and got down to ripping at the Christmas wrapping paper. Again, another set of three frustrating layers to cut through. Ending with another well taped up cardboard box. Velma was the first to get to the cardboard box, so the rest paused in their scraping and looked as she used one of her other scissors to get at the tape. Struggling a little bit with the beach ball sized box on her lap, Velma finally got one edge cut away to be able to slice down the tape to free the flap.

Tugging the ends apart. Velma revealed... yet another box. Earning a groan from the rest of the gang.. besides Shaggy chuckling from behind the phone. Avoiding all the stress.

"This must be **your** fault." Daphne snapped annoyed at the scruffy camera man. Snipping the scissor threatening at him, earning a click of the camera. Even though it was her idea to give him the cell phone in the first place.

"_**ME?**_" Shaggy placed a open hand against his chest. But the grin that appeared past the sides of the phone and the tone in his voice proved otherwise. He was enjoying watching them struggle, and had been behind the mischievousness all along.

"Yes you. Ugh, Thank you for the presents, but no thank you on the hassle to **GET** to the sucker." Velma sighed, pulling the new Christmas printed box out from again but letting loose a chuckle at the creative way Shaggy was getting them. It was just like him, being sneaky and devious, but nice at the same time.

"How about we make a conga line!" Fred offered.

"A what?" Daphne asked confused, turning to look at the man.

"You mean a assembly line?" Velma tried to see what Fred was trying to say. Assuming that was what he meant.

"Yeah, that's it. An assembly line. Shaggy can be over there with the camera, being the mastermind behind it all. Me and Scooby can work on the wrapping paper. And you ladies can work on the tape bits... Sound good?" Ever the plan maker, Fred tried to figure out the best way to go about getting at the problem in front of them. Setting up stations might help speed this up, and help get to the Christmas center of this Tootsie Pop.

"Sounds, _'like a plan!_" Chirped Shaggy from behind the camera. Stealing Fred's line that had to be coming from the man any second now.

"Oh, shush **you!**"

Pushing the largest cardboard aside, the Gang moved themselves to sit in a circle. So, they could pass along the packages as they reached the right mode of opening from which ever gang member. Trying to speed up the process in hopes to get at the presents hiding inside.

Handing the boxes to be finished unwrapping by Scooby and Fred, the girls waited till the cardboard came out and they could start slicing up the tape trapping what ever inside. Finishing up with the roughly beach ball sized presents and moving down to the basket ball sized ones that came after.

Another round of tape cutting of the basketball sized boxes revealed yet more boxes! Still wrapped in Christmas print, Daphne sighed and passed the next smaller parcel off to Fred as she took another container to cut open.

"Sigh, you don't do things half way, do you Shaggy?" Daphne snorted, slapping the top of the box in her lap to vent her slight annoyance. Earning a chuckle from behind the camera. Not something she really wanted to have to deal with this early in the morning. Just because she had some caffeine in her, didn't mean she was quite prepared for 'Shaggy Shenanigans' before she was awake enough to handle it.

"I'm going to regret giving you that." Daphne muttered, sniping at the tape in front of her.


	3. Getting to the Center of it All

"Uh... you know what I said about duct tape earlier... right?" Fred hated to say it, but he had accidentally called it. Having unwrapped the last package Daphne had handed to him, and found that under the normal set of three Christmas wrapping paper, was now another cardboard box... at least he figured it was one, but the whole thing was covered on all surfaces by colorful duct tape. The cube in his hand, being covered in orange. And peering over at the present Scooby was working on, he had tears that showed off a blue taped one as well.

"_I'mgonnagethim..._" Slurring her sentence, Daphne started to try to stand in frustration before Velma snagged her and sat her back down. Keeping a grip on her before she stopped struggling.

"See what the present is... **before** you kill the present giver." Velma reasoned, since Shaggy usually had a reason for being _**INFURIATING!**_ So. annoyance aside... it wasn't worth getting worked up and wasting energy before they got through all the layers and saw what was at the end.

"Mrrrrr. Right. Hand me that box and the box cutter! I'm going to vent my anger on _this_ sucker instead of **THAT** sucker!" Daphne snatched the knife from Fred and shook it in Shaggy's direction before placing it in front of her and sliding the blade up to stab the box.

"Hey, watch out, you might stab the present inside." Fred made a move towards Daphne, but pulled back not wanting to get between the woman and her stress reducing. Trying to calm from his position out of stabby range. Though Daphne was a responsible adult, and was watching where she was holding the dangerous knife and being safe with it. She didn't want to cut herself or anyone else by being careless and stupid.

"I will apologize to Velms, if I have stabbed her present... but I have a feeling Shaggy isn't done _yet_ with us."

It made sense that the Orange present, was their resident sweater wearer. And Blue could either be for Scooby, or Fred, depending on what other colors were in play. And while she appreciated the color coordination, she still was a bit mad... But still a nice touch. But **mad!**

While Daphne sawed at the box to try to find a way inside. the others continued to get down to the duct tape layers of the other packages. Revealing the colors Purple and White, to add to the Orange and Blue they already had known about.

"Ah ha! _See_... **SEE!**" Having cut the whole top off the cardboard, she didn't know how to find the flaps to open it normally. So, Daphne decided to just cut three of the four corners to free the top side to reach the contents. Which was another round of wrapping. But it looked a bit different this time. She had also noticed that the box shook more then the last ones. Rattling around the core of the last package she was handling.

"What the...?"

Bringing the groups attention, Shaggy couldn't hide his chuckles as the red head started to pull away the one layer of brown paper that layered this tier. Her stab already starting the unwrapping process, Daphne had a head start to getting to the evil that was trapped inside.

"**You fiend!**" Fred gasped, seeing the reality of the next stage they had to get through.

Wrapped end to end, the bumpiness of the package was because Shaggy had covered the surface of the present with plastic zip ties. There was barely any space between the bands, and they had been woven in and out of one another to make a wall of alternating plastic. They were not going to be able to pull it off the zip ties from the package, instead they would have to find a way to get past the wall of plastic to reach the next stage of the present.

"Hold on... I got this." Narrowing her eyes at Shaggy, Velma shot him a raspberry and pushed up from the ground. Earning a round of pics capturing her defiance. "Get to those layers, and I'll make quick work of it!"

Watching her stalk off, the rest of the gang worked to unwrap and cut through the layer of duct tape and the brown paper to end up with the four zip tie covered presents. Though by now, it seemed that the Fred, Daphne and Velma's package were the same size, but Scooby and Shaggy's package were not. Being larger and bulkier then the rest of the gang.

It didn't take Velma long to return, with her hands full of a black cloth tool bag. Dropping it by where she had been sitting with a thud, she sat herself down and started to dig through the tools that sat inside. Looking for something in particular, she took a bit before finally landing her hand on what she had been searching for.

"Ah **HA!**" Thrusting the pair of wire cutters in the air, like an awarded prize from a video game... (_Link would be proud._) Velma then turned her attention on the package that had been waiting for her. Searching the bundle over, she tried to figure the best method for getting inside.

Armed with her weapon against Shaggy's antics, Velma made quick work of one side. Being thinner on the side rather then the top or bottom, it was easier to cut down a line of zip ties to free the package. And while it took a bunch of snipping, she had been able to free the package from its confines. Moving on to the others to free the next stage of Shaggy's wrapped chaos in present form.

"Do you have another one in there, so we can help?" Fred wondered, feeling bad making Velma do all the work.

"Not in this bag, and I think it would take too long to find my other ones. Though I think a nail clipper might work." Velma shook her head as she continued to hack away at the plastic before her.

"Nail clippers, eh?" Tilting her head to the side, Daphne hadn't been prepped a mystery. So, her nail clippers were stored away, rather then being hidden in a pocket and close at hand. "I bet I have some upstairs in the bathroom."

"Would dog nail clippers work? I think Shaggy keeps his by the closet over there?" Fred tossed a thumb over his shoulder at the small closet that sat in the corner of the living room. Reserve mainly for coats and such, but it also had Scooby's leashes and other doggy bits and bobs. Trying to find a closer option.

"Rah Rah! R'its r'ere!" Getting up from where he had been waiting for more to do, Scooby knew exactly where the clippers were. With a jaunty little trot over to the closet, the Dane made his way to gather up the clippers and return for pets.

Since he did a good thing, and got the clippers for the rest of the gang. It was a tiny bit drooly, but Daphne did make sure to thank Scooby for his work. And since he still didn't have anything to do, Scooby flomped himself on Fred's lap, belly up and hoping for scritches while the two guys waited for the ladies to get the harder part done.

"Well... Alright." Fred didn't have much choice but to give in. It would be hard to roll Scooby off, if he wanted to be stubborn. Though the Dane wasn't exactly a 'lap dog', spilling across Fred's lap and the floor on either side. Not that it slowed the dog down in his eagerness of belly rubs and petting.

As the two ladies made work of the zip ties, Daphne made sure to toss a few at Shaggy in protest, earning a few from Velma as well. Though she was more amused and even more curious at the final result. But didn't mean that she wouldn't take a few tosses at the man for all the photos he was getting. Though they would have to pick up the thrown bits later to get rid of. But for now, it was ammo in revenge!

"For such a big box, these presents look like they are getting quite small." Huffing a red strand of hair out of her face, Daphne commented on the progression of what they had gone through so far. From Fridge, to beach ball, Basketball, Volleyball, bigger then a soft ball... give or take a rough estimate. Not that she was measuring them as they went... Though Velma might have been.

"You guys are like' almost done. Velma is getting Scooby's present and if I remember, there is only two more for the rest." Shaggy peeked out from behind the camera to let them know the end was in sight. Though it made all the humans working on it, turn their attention to the package Velma had in her hands, which had been oddly shaped compared to the others.

As the last of zip ties were cut, Velma was able to free the Scooby package. But there was a downside to grabbing the odd shape so firmly... Past the crinkling Christmas themed wrapping paper, was a somewhat squishy inside. And Velma happened to hold it just in the right... or wrong spot as Fred was soon going to find out.

_**~SQUEAK!~**_

As the squeaker of a dog toy rang out in Velma's hand, Scooby did a figurative and literal one eighty. He had been dazing out as Fred had been scratching his belly, snoozing with the man's well placed rubs. But as soon as the toy cried out, Scooby's eye snapped open and he lurched to try to get at the sound. There was one problem... as Fred's head was in the way of Scooby flipping himself upright and over. The thick dog skull meeting the side of poor Fred's face, rocketing his head backwards at the impact. Though Scooby didn't pay the blow much mind, as he was trying to get at the sound of a new toy.

The scrambling gave Velma just enough time to hold the wrapped toy away from her body to get the object away from herself. Scooby soon crossed the space between the downed Fred and herself to latch mouth first on the prize! The one layer of Christmas paper stood no chance between a Dane and his chew toy. Earning a round of slobbery squeaks once he got to the leathery center of the present. Repetitive chomps chewed down on the new toy, earning a round of squeaks as Scooby gnawed down on it. It was a Outback Jack branded dog toy, made in the shape of a burger.

"You ok over there." Daphne asked concerned, as Fred was laying face up, still on the ground where he had landed. Leaning over to try to see if the man was alright.

"...Ow..."

"Awwww... Sorry Fred. I didn't know that Scooby was going to do that." Shaggy apologized, feeling bad at how that had turned out. His best friend laying flat out on the floor or the living room.

"... It's ok. It can't be helped."  
"Yeah, sorry still."  
"..." Fred paused.

"You at least got that on tape, right?"

"Yep!"

Raising one arm up from the ground, Fred put up a thumbs up. Just the things you go through when you own a large dog in the house. Especially a derpy Dane, like Scooby was. Can't blame the dog for being excited, Fred just wished he hadn't been in between a dog as his toy.

"Well, that is one down, now just the humans' presents left." Daphne pointed out, now that Fred was mostly fine and seemly in a good mood, all things considered.

"Hey Daph, take over the camera while I get poor Fred an ice pack." Shaggy waited till Daphne relieved him of the camera, so he could get his other best pal something to take care of that eye.

"Oh, this might be it..." Still working, Velma had gotten all the packages past their zip tie prison, and while the others made sure Fred was ok, she pressed on and found that the next box down only had a single layer of brown paper wrap. And once she cut past that and opened the cardboard under that... She tugged the flap open to find an ornate necklace type box sitting at the center. And this felt fancy, so it must be the last layer.

"Yeah, I think this is it. Let me get the rest down to this tier."

Accompanied by Scooby chewing on his new toy in the background, Velma made quick work to free the other small containers. Each of the decorated, Christmas themed gift box was color themed like earlier stages. In white, orange and purple. Topped with a matching bow, sitting on the top lid of each of the presents.

Shaggy returned, seeing that the ordeal he had put them through was almost over. Beaming a grin, he handed over the ice pack to Fred and moved to take the camera back from Daphne.

"Here, you guys should all open it together!" Waving his hands at the all, Shaggy made the typical camera man gesture to make the others slide together. It took a second, but soon the three other gang members were sitting side by side, as Shaggy filmed them all. Presents sitting in their laps, with eager hands hovering over them.

"This better be worth it, or you will regret it Norville." Daphne threatened halfheartedly. The hard part was finally over, and the giddiness of a present was replacing her anger. Though he really had done a number on them, with how many stages and frustration he put them through. And it was going to take a while to clean up. But now was present time!

"On Three!" Fred suggested, trying to juggle an ice pack on his face, and a handle on the lid from the present on his lap. Sliding a finger through the bow, in hopes it would help him get a better grip one handed.

"One..."

"Two..."

"**THREE!**"

All three tops came off, one after another. Revealing the small piece of paper that sat in the middle of the box. It wasn't jewelry to match the decorative box, but something that was probably worth much, much more.

"Is this what I think it is?"  
"I thought this was all gone."  
"How did you get this?!"

Still grinning, Shaggy finally shut down the camera and moved closer to the gang. Reaching into his shirt, he pulled out his own to wave it at the others. Well, his, and the one for Scooby. Not trusting the Dane to not slobber over the present, so he gave the Dane a distraction while he held on to the tickets in a safer place. But he didn't want to leave Scooby out of the package layer chaos that he had set up to get to the presents. But the beatnik wasn't prepared for the tackle from Daphne, as she seemed to have loved the present he had got them all. And made her joy known, by knocking the man to the ground.

Water under the bridge, and hugging abound!

"Shaaaaa_aaaaaaaggy_! I **can't** believe you had gotten us tickets to Coolsville's stadium for **The HEX GIRLS**! As soon as I heard they were coming locally, they had already been sold out!" Head burrowed into his chest, Daphne was trying to squeeze the life out of the poor man.

"Now now, don't kill the poor guy Daph." Velma chuckled, amazing as well how he had managed to get tickets when Daphne hadn't been able to. Tugging at Daphne, hoping to have her lighten up and let poor Shaggy breath a bit. Not smother him to death in happiness.

"Maybe you should have the ice pack." Fred snickered, though kept the cold on his face. If they were going to the concert, he didn't want to have to face Thorn and the others, with a black eye. Though he bet they wouldn't let him live it down, had that happened.

"Heh Heh, I'm glad you liked." Patting Daphne on the head, he was still smiling ear to ear. He had been hoping for this sort of response when he had spend the hours putting this crazy project together. Also, the lack of sleep and tension he had when it came to bringing the present down from the attic, where he had been sneaking all the materials and spending time hiding up there to pull this whole idea off secretly. But it had been totally worth all the effort!

"I contacted Thorn when I overheard Daphne being like' sad that the tickets were sold out. And she managed to find a place that still had some left that I was able to get my hands on. We also have backstage tickets as well, but we will have to pick them up the day of."

"You are awesome Shagster." Chuckled Fred, looking over his ticket.

"Yeah, thank you for the gifts! I can't **wait** for the concert!" Velma agreed, eager to see what the ladies had in sort this year for their Christmas Tour.

"Just, don't make this a habit." Daphne muttered into his chest. threatening from her hug still around his midsection. "But thank you. This is the best Christmas Present!"


End file.
